Bethlehem man sentenced for making threats on Facebook

A Bethlehem man convicted in federal court of making threats on his Facebook page against his estranged wife, state police, the Berks County sheriff's department and an unidentified kindergarten class in the Bethlehem area has been sentenced to 44 months in prison.

Anthony Elonis, 28, was convicted of four counts of interstate communication of threats for postings he made on his Facebook page, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia.

Elonis was convicted following a four-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence F. Stengel.

Stengel on Wednesday also sentenced Elonis to three years of probation and ordered him to undergo mental health treatment. Elonis' Internet activity also will be monitored while he is on probation.

According to court records, Elonis started posting the threats against his wife and others in 2010.

Before the federal charges were filed in January 2011, Berks Judge James M. Bucci on Nov. 4, 2010, granted Elonis' wife, Tara L. Elonis of Mertztown, a protection-from-abuse order based on the threats.

Anthony Elonis was ordered not to contact his wife and two children for three years.

During his trial, Elonis argued the threats he made, which were written in poem form, were actually song lyrics and were protected by his 1st Amendment right to free speech.

He also argued that they could be seen only by his Facebook friends and were therefore not serious.

Authorities said Elonis was fired from his job at Dorney Park in October partly because of the threats.

Investigators said Elonis threatened his wife and co-workers and stated he would blow up the amusement park and commit "the most heinous school shooting ever imagined."

Elonis testified that he was depressed and made the online posts as a way of venting his frustration.